XO-2? No thanks
Posted on June 04, 2008 by Guest Writer in Hardware
I was pretty disappointed to hear that OLPC was going to announce new hardware a few weeks ago. The XO was finally shipping and OLPC had a plan to start the long, hard work of getting the software up to snuff. But instead of using their great, deliverable hardware as an advantage OLPC has decided to throw it all away for a few minutes in
the spotlight.
The XO-1 Gets No Love
The XO hardware is a lot like a game console -- it's a fixed hardware platform where every one is exactly the same and every unit that rolls off the assembly line makes the next one a little bit cheaper. Customers who buy one the first day it's available can run the same programs as those who wait a few years until they're a little cheaper. The best part is that new software just gets better and better without the hardware ever changing.
See, as developers work with a fixed platform they really cozy up to the hardware, learning the tips and tricks that make their software maximize the hardwares performance. You can see it in just about any console game with a roman numeral in the title or any annual sports game franchise; every year the programs look and play better and
better, even though it's the exact same chips running things as the year before. It's all in how the software is better crafted for the hardware it runs on, and that takes time.
This is exactly what I was hoping to see with the XO. The XO-1 hardware is great. But the software still leaves a lot to be desired. OLPC made a roadmap specifying a couple of minor software updates and then a new generation next year. This was encouraging, OLPC looked like it was ready to do the hard work necessary to finish the job and
make the XO a great educational tool, not just a flashy tech demo.
But now here comes this XO-2 thing. Why would anyone buy an XO-1 when there's a new one on the way? If the hardware's better, countries considering the XO will just wait until the new one is ready, seeing no reason to saddle themselves with a million old laptops. Sneaky countries might even just order the next generation to grab some good press on the cheap, knowing they can quietly change their mind by the time it's released. And countries that need others to buy first to bring the price down will have to wait that much longer for their opportunity to implement laptop initiatives.
I expect that XO-1 software development will wind up looking a lot like the homebrew scene for Dreamcast game development. Or Amiga or Atari 2600 or whatever your dead platform of choice is. The XO-2 announcement makes the XO-1 look clunky and uncool to write software for, especially if there won't be any customers. And there's no
financial incentive for anyone but OLPC employees to write software. Even OLPC workers won't have much reason to do anything great -- instead of doing the hard work to get a fast web browser they'll just wait for the next generation of hardware. We've seen that happen XO development before, when development for the slower B2 test machines was dropped once the B4 test units were delivered. That time only volunteer software developers were left behind, but this time it's OLPC customers.
So that's why I'm disappointed in OLPC and their plans for the XO-2. They could have just mildly improved their great, shipping technology and built on their work in the field. Instead they've thrown it all away for another demo and press release. G1G1 participants, get comfortable with those activities in the shipped XO-1 build 650 because they aren't going to get much better.
Jonathan Blocksom is a software developer living in the Washington, D.C. metro area. He is active in the OLPC DC Learning Club.
